Playlist, April 2013

Jim JamesRegions of Light and Sound of God
ATO
Prolifically-talented My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James delivers
songs both intimate and
transportive on his debut solo album. Self-engineered with all instruments
played by James (save
for drums), he utilizes his much-documented love of reverb in new
ways—enhancing
simple
lines of piano, bass, and drums with gentle exhales, subtle funk, and deep
throbs. Unexpected
guitar filigree, dusky saxophone samples, and intoxicating keyboard touches
demonstrate James’
ability to conjure just the right sound at just the right time. Regions is
where James’ sonic and
personal atmospherics combine in a mysteriously soulful, hazily futuristic
soundtrack.MALCOLM RHOADS

Ellen AllienLISm
BPITCH CONTROL
BPitch Control boss,
DJ, and fashion
designer Ellen
Allien conceived
the ambient
textures of LISm as
a soundtrack to a
dance performance,
but its odd cadences
and desolate spaces
are more dead
tech than fashion
friendly. Allien coos
the words “falling,
falling, falling” during
the opening of this
57-minute piece,
a clue to LISm’s
dislocated theme. At
times a mysterious,
deep-space
rumination, later a
frozen jazz beat dirge,
the only constant in
this Berlin dreamstate
is its comforting
sense of languor.KEN MICALLEF

Dave GrohlSound City,
Real to Reel
RCA
The soundtrack to the
anti-digital recording
documentary, Sound
City, Real to Reel
is a head-butting
collection of rock-star
vanity pieces, a chance
for newbie director
Dave Grohl to write
and perform with
his graying heroes.
Exceptional tracks
include Stevie Nicks
crooning “You Can’t
Fix This” and Rick
Springfield fronting
the Foos on the nerve-rattling
“The Man
That Never Was.”
Unfortunately, Paul
McCartney phones it
in for “Cut Me Some
Slack,” wheezing like
the million-dollar
senior citizen these
artists are destined to
become.KEN MICALLEF

The KnifeShaking the Habitual
RABID/BRILLE/MUTE
Officially a follow-up
to 2006’s Silent Shout,
this fourth album
by Swedish brother-sister
duo Karin
Dreijer Andersson
and Olof Dreijer feels
far more indebted
to their industrial/
metamorphic side
efforts (Oni Ayhun,
collaborating with Mt.
Sims & Planningtorock,
Fever Ray). Featuring
nearly 100 minutes
across two discs or
three platters, it often
eschews melodic
immediacy for
disquieted percussion,
ring modulation,
and guttural
collisions. Even the
“conventionally”
structured moments
are more cacophonous
braindance than pitchbent
synthpop.TONY WARE

Billy Bragg
Tooth and Nail
COOKING VINYL
Recorded live in five
days by engineer
Ryan Freeland in
Joe Henry’s Garfield
House studio, Tooth
and Nail is the first
album from Billy
Bragg since his record
with Wilco, Mermaid
Avenue (2008). This
has some of the
warmest, sweetest
vocals, and the most
personal songs, we’ve
heard from this great
singer/songwriter,
and inspired
performances grow
from Henry’s always
sensitive, roomy
production style. It’s
clear that artist and
producer put extra
heart into this album.BARBARA SCHULTZ